Sunday, June 8, 2008

"Lucky Baby"

I was wondering some things about Ji Yeon recently, and conversation on the TLC blog spurred me to finish this post. For instance:

(1) Since her conception was caused by the island's influence, will she be different physically? Do the island's EM effects at the early stages of fetal formation create a mutated species of some kind? Even though its influence has been cut short by Sun leaving before the complications set in, perhaps enough time passed for Ji Yeon's growth to be affected or mutated in some way.(2) Is she the first one to be conceived on, and born off, the island? Maybe the uber-team's Miles, Charlotte, or Daniel were conceived on-island too -- we've already gotten hints about Charlotte -- they seem to each have special intellect or cognition. Ji Yeon might have some too.(3) If so, will her future and the island's be entwined? According to the enhanced version of her episode, Ji Yeon means "flower of wisdom"...she might be a spiritual leader of sorts on the island when she's older.(4) Was Sun able to get herself and the baby off the island, because the island allowed it? This could imply that she was saved because she is needed on the island in the future, or that she will help her mother control the forces against the island back in the world, via the newly revised Paik Industries' corporate mission under Sun's control.

It's all up to TPTB how they run with this part of the story, of course. But her complicated conception and time being vulnerable to the island's influence, does inspire much curiosity about her physical attributes and her future. It kind of reminds me of Paul Atreides' little sister in Dune, who was subjected to the Waters Of Life when her mother drank it while pregnant, and Alia is born a cognizant super-being. Maybe TPTB gave us a hint during the scenes at her birth, when she went from being in distress one minute to miraculously being born fine (and very quickly!). That is, if she is a "special" island-conceived baby, maybe she already has the power to control her environment (the same question could be asked about Locke's birth as well). Or, her birthing twist was just a quickie plot device to ramp up the drama and then set up a red herring in the process. Well it's a long hiatus, this is just one aspect to cogitate until next year.

13 comments:

I think it would be pretty cool if Ji Yeon is special just like Aaron is (that is assuming the little hints to Aaron being special are true). Both children have been born under special circumstances. Aaron was the first baby in a while to be born on island (although conceived off) and like you mentioned Ji Yeon might be the first baby to be conceived on island and born off. She kind of seems like the opposite of Aaron. It’s a stupid thought but maybe Ji Yeon is the Ying to Aaron’s Yang :)

If they ended up being Adam and Eve, I think that would be awesome. There could be some crazy time loop thing going on and it keeps looping or course correcting until the right outcome happens. Maybe Aaron and Ji Yeon ended up in the caves and died there in one senario but since it wasn't the correct one the loop happens again- cue Jack waking up in the jungle after the plane crashed (did you happen to see the discusion about the black object that looked alot like Ben's weapon that was next to Jack's head in the first scene in the Pilot? Who knows what it really is but it is fun to think about).

However we could be soooooo wrong if Sun doesn't bring Ji Yeon back to the island. Do you think Ji Yeon is going to be included or not?

I haven't a clue, and I really don't like to try to pre-guess too much what TPTB are going to do (cuz I'm always wrong anyway) but...it seems odd that TPTB merely used Ji Yeon as a tool to make the point about the off-island vs. on-island conception, that could have been done with narrative exposition alone. But we got a very concrete tale with scenes (and episodes) involving this miracle conception and baby...so I dunno, it looks like it's going somewhere, right? It sure seems as if TPTB have some plans for her future and purpose.

On the other hand, they only have two more seasons to tell us why Aaron is so darned special (among a zillion other things), so do we have time to bring yet another special baby into the mix?! :-o

Another Yin & Yang thing. The whole mirror image thing that seems to occur on LOST. Aaron was conceived off-Island and born on-Island. Ji Yeon was conceived on-Island and born off-Island. There's a connection there, but like Capcom, I'm usually close on my theories but then find that I'm either off my mark or WAY off my mark, to paraphrase Lapidus and his things being over his head comment. Hell, I might even be wrong about the polar bears at the donkey wheel.

Wayne, when you talked about the polar bear and the frozen donkey wheel did you mean you think the polar bear was hooked up to the wheel to move it and that's how it ended up in Tunisia? If so I think that's a cool theory, if not what is yours? I'd love to hear it. No harm in guessing :)

The mirror image comment reminds me of the book Through the Looking Glass. I think there could be some similar themes in it expecially since it is the name of one of the stations.

I like where you're all going with the importance of Ji Yeon and maybe her connection to the island and/or Aaron. I don't know if we read too much into some things which could just be plot devices (ok...I KNOW we do), but children seem to be a running theme in the show. Much has been made about Walt being special, of course. A lot of us think that Aaron might be the next Chosen One (if he passes the Dahlai Lama test). It would be great if Ji Yeon was destined to "rule the island" with Aaron!

Yes, all the effort to set up the stories of the special children does make you wonder!

I like your thought of "on/off vs. off/on" conception and birth as another part of the Yin/Yang between the two babies Wayne.

I also really like the idea of the polar bears being used to turn the wheel in the cold, and getting bumped out into the world. It definitely seems as if TPTB are implying that. And, as if Charlotte knew about how it got there too. Although she seemed unaware when Dan was trying to explain to her about the Orchid danger, but she could have been feigning ignorance about it, as she has for other subjects before.

Hey, Capcom. Ezra, I had posted over at EYE M SICK (the only LOST blog I visit) about just what you said, the polar bear and Ben both being in Tunisia. Looking on the blast door map, maybe The Incident was the first polar bear moving the wheel back in the mid-80s. We haven't seen enough of The Orchid to know the levels, the entrances, etc. Aaron and Ji Yeon are really not that far off in age, once you do the Island timeline. One of the things that make me think TOO much about something is that there are mirror images all over LOST, if the blast door map's crossed off station, if seen at ground level there's nothing there, is The Orchid and it seems to be, then the Orchid and The Swan are at near opposites on the Island. Their logos are (kind of) opposite. The Orchid is close to the Arrow and that's where the tail section ended up. The fuselage was near the Swan and the cockpit near the Black Rock. Will we see that Ji Yeon has to go to the Island even though she was never there in the first place, like Aaron was? Would it make a difference if she came with or stayed in Korea? And the last thing I'll say this evening, at some point after 2010, I think there should be a spin-off with Lapidus and Faraday as time cops. Or real cops.

Right Wayne! When I first saw the holes in the ends of the spokes of the FDW, it sure seemed as if TPTB were giving us another hint about that. :-o The only thing that would not support that too much, is that there is a wall there, and why would they need a polar bear to move something three feet. But, we don't know that the stone wall was always blocking off the circumference of the wheel.

Good idea about the mirror images of the BD map too Wayne, I need to comb over that again with what we know now. A good hiatus project. :-)

You should try one more Lost blog Wayne -- over at The Lost Community -- some really great theories are shared and welcomed over there. Bloggers read and discuss the books shown in the show too (also with a podcast to cap each finished book off). The bookclub should be ramping up soon for the hiatus.

I think that the donkey wheel was better exposed at one point. There has been damage at several other stations near The Orchid...The Staff and The Pearl both show interior structure failure, The Staff is even mentioned on the blast door map. Maybe when we hear the story of how the Island moved, we might see similar damage. But I think that it might've been rumblings from the volcano that we sometimes get hints about.

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